The Cat's Meow
by Dustbunny3
Summary: [One-shot][Sakaki/Kaorin] Post-series. Kaorin tries to attract customers to the cat cafe she works at and attracts something else instead.
A/N: Man, I suck at crossposting... I can scarcely believe that I wrote a fic involving Sakaki and a cat cafe and never even got _inside_ the cafe. Though, in my defense, that would probably be two seconds of her being overwhelmed by cuteness before every cat in the place tries to take a bite out of her... Ah, well. Enjoy!

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Standing out on the street in a kitty costume, passing flyers and reciting slogans for a cat cafe to passersby, put a person's life into perspective, Kaorin found. People snickered and rolled their eyes as they went and her coworker, allowed to wear her maid uniform for the venture, kept sending her pitying looks, but Kaorin was secure in the knowledge that she'd lived through worse humiliation. Really, something like this was a breeze compared to some of what she'd put up with in high school.

It was a thought that would have made her smile if it wasn't also kind of depressing.

"Hey, Kaorin," her co-worker said, breaking her out of her thoughts, "I'm out of flyers. Will you be okay by yourself while I get another stack?"

"Oh, sure, of course," she said, managing not to wince when the words came out in the same tone of voice as she'd been using to try to draw in customers. Oh, no, what if her voice was stuck like that? "Take your time."

She regretted the words as soon as they were out– her co-worker grinned and disappeared into the cafe they were representing. Getting another stack of flyers was already a task this girl could make last for five minutes, who knew how long she'd take now?

"Me and my mouth," Kaorin sighed, shoulders drooping.

Then, drawing in a deep breath, she pulled herself back up to her full height. If she could get enough people to take her flyers, then she could go in for another stack and maybe hide for five minutes herself. Re-energized by her determination, she spun from the storefront to face the street again.

Standing stock-still in front of her was Sakaki-san.

Kaorin's breath caught in her lungs. She thought she'd remembered how beautiful Sakaki-san was, yet here was the girl– no, the woman herself to prove her wrong. Her familiar curves had gotten even curvier, her hair fanned out like a cape as the wind blew and her lovely dark eyes were pointed right at Kaorin.

 _I should say something_ , Kaorin thought. _How have you been? or You look great! or–_

"Come in an try our new specials! Half price just for the weekend, nyaa~"

Horror fell over Kaorin like a bucket of ice water, her tongue curling up in her mouth as if to distance itself from the words that had just spewed out of her. Her flyers fell and fluttered to the ground as she dropped them throw her hands up in front of her.

"No, no, that's not right at all!" she cried, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. "Sakaki-san, don't look at me!"

A single word in that much-loved voice drifted to her ears, but she couldn't make it out past the recriminations rattling around in her own head. Daring to peek past the fuzzy paws that protected her from Sakaki-san's eyes, she asked, "Hm?"

Sakaki-san was closer than she had been, just far enough away that she wasn't breaching Kaorin's personal space. She said again, "Cute."

"Er…" Kaorin looked both ways and then behind her, frazzled mind trying to make sense of the word. Was Sakaki-san talking about the cafe? The front was decked out with ribbons in honor of their big weekend deal, and it was pretty cute. Heck, the store was always cute, the logo painted in pastels surrounded by more paintings of kittens. And the there were the cats themselves, of course, some gathered in the windows; was she talking about them? Was… could she mean…?

Gulping, face burning, Kaorin pointed at herself with one shaking finger. Sakaki-san nodded once, simple and firm, eyes still locked on her.

It was too much, even after so many (okay, one and a half) years, it was too much. Kaorin spun away from Sakaki-san and curled in on herself, bringing her hands to her cheeks in an attempt to cool them. Since her hands were currently encased in the fuzzy gloves of her costume, it was an even more futile attempt than it otherwise would have been. She was squealing, high and childish, and she couldn't even be embarrassed because Sakaki-san called her cute.

"Kaorin-chan," Sakaki-san said, and Kaorin forced herself to look at her over her shoulder. Sakaki-san had taken a half-step closer; one hand came up between them, hesitant. Her face was red and Kaorin almost forgot how to breathe as she realized she'd made Sakaki-san blush. "May I…?"

Kaorin really did stop breathing when she realized what Sakaki-san was asking. They stood there, staring at each other. People were passing by them and maybe they thought this scene was strange, but they all knew better than to interrupt; no one walked between them, though there was space to do so. Instead, they walked around– in some cases even crossing the street to avoid them– leaving them in their own little bubble of pseudo-reality.

It wasn't until Sasaki-san's hopeful expression cracked and she took her half-step back that Kaorin realized how long she'd been making her stand there without an answer. Sakaki-sans' fingers twitched and began to curl in toward her palm as her hand fell. There was an apology almost visible on her lips before she even spoke.

The sight spurred Kaorin into action. This opportunity wasn't going to knock on her door again, she was sure– this opportunity probably wouldn't even ever be in town again. Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, locking in whatever words she might speak, but she didn't panic.

Well, maybe she panicked a little. Rushing forward and ducking her head under Sakaki-san's retreating hand in lieu of words was very possibly a move born of panic.

Sakaki-san jolted at the touch; Kaorin could feel her fingers twitch and then freeze even through the costume. In her peripheral, Kaorin could see that her eyes had gone wide. She made not a move, didn't seem even to breathe.

Dread came over Kaorin like a daddy long-legs, slow and creeping. Had she gone too far, assumed too much? Just how did one go about apologizing for a situation like this? Should she say something first or stand back first or what? Oh, but high school had really not prepared her one bit for the real world, especially not for dealing with real people in a normal way.

But then Sakaki-san had gone to the same high school, lived those same ridiculous years alongside her, as Kaorin remembered when her fingers unfroze and began to stroke. They ghosted across her head and back again and she was aware of them following along the lines of the costume's ears. A few passes in, they firmed and even ventured down the back of her head to the base of her neck, scritched and then stroked up again. Sakaki-san's blank surprise morphed slowly but surely, eyes lighting up with warmth and lips softening in a smile. Kaorin smiled back, happiness tingling through her starting at every point Sakaki-san touched.

The world went on around them, ignored. At least it was ignored until a throat was very pointedly cleared, startling them back into reality.

Sakai-san stopped her hand where it was on top of Kaorin's head. Body stiff with shock, Kaorin turned to look at the storefront, where her co-worker, a stack of flyers wrapper in her arms, stood at their boss's elbow and staring in bewilderment. Their boss herself, an older woman whose face never seemed to change, looked between the tow of them then down to the dropped flyers and then straight into Kaorin's eyes.

She sighed and shook her head and said, in a voice heavy with disapproval, "Customers typically come inside the cafe before they pet the cats."


End file.
